1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of testing electronic hardware.
2. Background of the Related Art
Electronic devices and systems may include any number of electronic components. A common printed circuit board may include tens or hundreds of individual components, and each component may have a design with significant complexity. Although great effort and care may go into designing an electronic device, the individual components may be designed and manufactured by many different companies, and the electronic device may be assembled under various degrees of supervision and security. As a result of the many potential variations that could exist in an electronic device made under a given product specification, it is recommended and often necessary to test some or all of the electronic devices received from an outside source before putting those electronic devices into service.
While some deviations may naturally or accidentally exist between two units of the same electronic device, it has also been found that some electronic devices may have been intentionally altered without authority. For example, the electronic device may include additional or modified electronic components that bypass security measures or enable unauthorized communications. These types of differences in the electronic device may not be easily detected through visual inspection or existing quality control techniques.
The issue of verifying that a particular unit of an electronic device complies with its design specification takes on a heightened importance in military applications, for example. Although the electronic device is to be used in a secure and trusted environment, the electronic device was most likely made or assembled in a non-trusted environment.